Creative Combinations

So today's class is going to be a mix between tower and math work. It's a lot of fun. It allows for a lot of creativity. It's great for group classes and I hope you enjoy it. So starting out, just sitting down, grabbing the roll down bar and actually starting just with the little roll up, I shouldn't say roll up, it just starting to warm up the upper spine in preparation for the hundred. So the beautiful thing with this bar is that you can actually broaden between the shoulder blades as you're lifting and lowering to feel that widening of the back muscles as you contract in the front of the body.

Then warming up in the low abs. You can do this with the head lifting or literally just with the legs to give the upper body a bit of arrest, allowing the lower spine, the lower abs, the hips, the pelvis to start to warm up and be correctly engaged so you can watch the alignment of the pelvis and really isolate the lower part of the powerhouse. Then starting up with hundreds either with the legs down. I'm going to start with the legs down just to give variety here, making sure the shoulders are down, the back is broad, the front of the body is nicely contracted. Correct breathing, which I am not doing right now cause I'm talking and then pulling the legs in and continuing on. And last one and I presume that the hundreds that's a hundred and then rolling up to an upright position. Setting myself up for the rollback, which was what you would normally do on the tower or on the Cadillac, but using it more from the perspective of mapped work, just to give variety in a nice sense to the group class.

You can also work with the legs together, reaching the legs nice and long, adding a pull of the arms, working with the legs, flex to stretch out in the hamstrings. Okay and one more time. Rolling down and rolling back up. And as this is math work, I always like to add a few times without anything just to really stimulate the body and allow it to take advantage of all the spring tension that really hones the muscles and stimulates them so then you can enjoy the sensation of without them. Next will be single leg circles and as we're doing tower, it's nice to work with the leg spring instead of just without. So what's so great is you can really anchor the pelvis down and get so much extra work going into the inner side. It's a great place to get the hamstring, the pelvis and the legs stable. Very good as an advanced workout.

Also very nice for beginners or people who have therapeutic problems because it can be so much more stable once you're done. Nice stretch going for the other side. Then the further out, I always like to start with my leg right above the hip leg circles, making sure the shoulders are pressed down and the spine is nice and stable, reversing it. I always like to work with the leg crossing way over to get the inner thigh working and the outer part of the thigh really being stretched out as this exact movement often is hard for people. Nice stretch, lowering the legs down, rolling up and going into rolling like a ball, massaging the spine and as this UN creative advanced work come up, roll down, roll up, roll back, roll down, roll up, adding full length of the body, rolling down, rolling up. So lots of [inaudible] variations that can be created with just the basic Mac work at the more advanced level to get the workout interesting and stimulating from a new level. Then rolling back down on the Mat.

In preparation for series of five I'm taking the arm springs. Here we are. First of all just warming up my back, warming up my arms, my triceps, making sure my shoulders are nice and wide. Then bringing my knees in and starting single leg stretches with arm work at the same time. It's fun, it's slightly different. Stimulating makes you work a little bit differently. Lowering back, double leg stretches, arms and legs at the same time, really deepening through the powerhouse, making sure the chest is contracting and the back is widening.

The springs are so nice. You can also work the arms long every time, pressing them away just to get that extra little work. Lowering back down. I'm going to keep holding onto the handles and I've got the Dow here at the top, which is so nice because it keeps the upper back anchored. Now yes, I could work with the head up to then working with it down to do scissors, so nice, stable, powerhouse, energetic, work through the legs, flexing the feet for that extra little bit of work and then lower lift. Starting with the leg, hip hype, anchoring the back and lifting the legs. Slow going down powerfully up long spine, strong powerhouse, so you can do many variations here. That was slowed down. Fast Up. I can go down fast, slow, slow up, down fast, slowly coming up, down fast.

Slowly coming up. Now as I already have my hands here curling up for Chris Cross, this is kind of fun. You bend the knee and you stretch the arm that is with the bent knee, stretch that arm and reached the chest in that direction. Stretch, stretch and it really works across the obliques. Again, if you're more advanced and you want him to play around with these concepts and have fun, this is called fun and lowering back down long arms, long legs, rolling up, using the powerhouse, deepening down and swinging around for spine stretch forward. So first variations is just simple form deepening through the powerhouse, rolling down, rolling up just to warm up the spine and get a sense of the body in the back and the powerhouse. And then using the roll down bar, reaching slightly forward, pushing the bar down and then using the powerhouse in the arms to press dow, straightening the spine deep and lifting over the powerhouse and pressing down and over. One more time, lifting up and over the power house, pressing into the bar and then deepening down, making sure you take the work from the powerhouse, which I'm sure you are because you, it's hard not to.

And same thing with the legs together to make it more challenging, more interesting. And this time you can have an interesting variation with the feet flexed where you lift up over the powerhouse, reach forward and then see if you can pull the bar all the way down above the feet. So it takes a lot more challenge. This is great for really loose people like myself sometimes find a hard, tight, hard to find their muscles, but they can do the movements and it's never quite that challenging. So if you can really go and use the flexibility for the strength, it really balances the body up and gives a lot of tonality. Going into saw just simple version, reaching and up just to get variety, reaching and up and reaching and up and reaching and up and just for one variation with the hands behind the head. Nice twist, deepening and taking the elbow to the knee and come back up.

Twist elbow to the knee and up and again, elbow to the knee and other side, elbow to the knee and up. Arms down, rolling down onto the back and I'm going to swing around now and go into corkscrew. So holding the poles above my head, making sure my shoulders are nice and down, rolling up, rolling onto the right hip, left hip and coming up. And this is so fabulous with this bar above the head, which is the way Jeff's Palabra is used to work with his clients because it really allows you to keep your chest very open while you're doing the movement. Swinging around. And one more time swinging around and last one, swinging around, rolling down and then slowly lowering the legs all the way down to the mat. Next one is Swan Swan dives.

I'm going to attach the push through bar and actually start with the bar down my fleet long and from [inaudible] retract the shoulders and just lift the chest and then lower back out and stretch. Lift the chest, lower down and stretch. This is a not very nice warm up. Lift the chest and here we go for the real Swang di I love this one. It's such a lovely way to have people experience the momentum without when they haven't done swan di where they just learning it.

Great way to teach them the rhythm, the momentum and it's not as hard as doing it without the bar. Now coming back forward, next one is single leg kicks. So just doing it simple form chest is up, spine is long, shoulders are down. Kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, warming up the hamstring, warming up the cat and then stretching back into the heels, stretching out and taking a breather. Next one will be double leg kicks, but we're going to add spread eagle or flying eagle. So from here, holding onto the roll down bar, retracting the shoulders, pushing the bar down. First of all, just practicing Flying Eagle just like you do on the one to chair.

Beautiful place to get the back. More, more active. Love this one. What's so nice about it and harder to do than on the wound or chair is this bar really shows if you have imbalances in your arms. So you can see if the Var is going straight down or wobbling all over the place. Then we add kick, kick, kick and pressing down to lift and lowering back on kick, kick, kick, pressing down to lift and lowering down.

One more time. Kick, kick, kick and pressing down to lift. Lots of fun again, nice combination, nice variation. A little bit of an archival pots to all of this. Rolling back up to an upright position and I'm going to put the roll down bar down now and just adding a little bit doing bridge just to reverse the movement into my back. Rolling the hips up. Nice long hamstrings, long size, rolling down and rolling up again, articulating through the spine and down and again, rolling up and rolling down. Now let me see here.

Leg Springs adding in leg springs, so I'm placing the straps, getting my knees inside. So actually just having some tension and pressing the bar down starts to work the legs in a whole different way. Again, a few more. And now what I'm doing is I'm really focusing in keeping my knees and feet together so it activates as a whole outer part of the leg and then taking the right leg nice and long, lifting it and stretching down, lifting it and stretching down, lifting it, keeping the hip side, stretching it down, bending the legs, back, lift, reengaging the hips and extending the left leg out. Lifting, lowering down, lowering down, trying not to let your bottom drop down, lifting a little bit more. That's where my pelvis was supposed to be, who all were in back down. And now a few a legwork just like you would do on the reformer. So this is a variation on leg work on the side side, leg kicks, going into frogs, going into leg circles and reversing it other way, reaching the legs long out of the powerhouse and then bringing the legs in and little walking steps, going down, little walking steps, coming up, walking steps going down and up, going into scissors, similar to the beginning, but now with the leg springs, z quality is so different and bicycles reversing the bicycles.

What's so beautiful with this work as you can really get a sense of where your pelvis is, keep it so stable. The apparatus is so wonderful for that. Extending back out with the ankles crossed so you work strongly into your inner thighs, lowering and lifting a few times to get the inner thighs firing. Changing around same thing, other side and then adding little crisscross, going down and coming up and going down, reaching the legs out and up. One more time.

Going down and coming up and bending the legs in now, Whoa, whoa. I'm going to extend my body out so the arms are longer. You think if I push show good my machine, my mat rolls for some of the area work in different systems. This has got, I found out today. This can also be called magic or flying magic. Some wonderful name like that. I know it is Ariel. So same work just in the air.

So pushing out to the hip. So lifted and circles, keeping the hips high, reversing them, bending the legs back in, extending the legs out for little walking steps. This one is my favorite because it feels so cool. It feels like I'm walking in space, bending the legs in and taking a break. And the last one will be little beats again, pressing the hips up. So to make a long diagonal and working the inner thighs coming down, rolling down, getting the legs out and again, little roll up just to get the body nice and loose and warm, which it already is, but it adds to the flexibility of what's going on.

And now teasers, I'm setting up the push through bar with the upper spring. Okay. So setting up for Teaser, I've set up the roll down, the push through bar. Shoulders are right under the wrist, pushing through and lengthening and first time just rolling up, using the powerhouse, rolling down and rolling up and lifting the legs at the same time. Rolling down. Third time rolling up and arms behind the head, articulating through the spine on the way down.

Fourth variation. These are always can go on for a long time. Legs and rolling down and then arms and legs together. Just for extra challenge. One, two, I have to count to keep myself entertained. Reach for the toes. Just like boom, Morag. Stretch the shoulders away. Float the legs down, sweep the arms around, stretch way over and come back up. And just for the fun of it going into seal solo, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.

Standing up, arms down, swiveling around. And I'm going to do a little bit of arm work now cause there's so many wonderful things you can do on the tower with all of these different contraptions. So first of all, just bicep curls. So standing in Pilati stance. Actually the attachment is incorrect, so you want to have the attachment down low for for bicep curl. So standing with the springs on the lower attachment spine as long I like to do this in [inaudible] stance, curling the arms up and down. It's great because you're forced to really use your powerhouse and you can really focus on keeping the shoulders nice and wide.

Zippering up the knuckle. The handles are together. Zippering up and I'm going to move closer to see if I can do it more correctly and get it all the way up to my sternum. Yay. Oh yes. I haven't worked my arms like this in a while and pulling up.

Excellent. Now adding on some of the squats. So let's see. I think this is a good place to have my arms springs. So feet in Pilati stance. Nope, too high. I think they're going to be better right here. Yeah, that looks better. Okay, so elbows in front of the shoulders, powerhouse. Hell, bringing the arms up and just going back and down. You go for y. If the pad isn't stable, going back and up and you can also be with the feet together.

And then another variation is pulling the arms back, going to [inaudible] stance and as you go down, seeing if you can keep your spine long war. Whoa, this is fun. Pushing the arms down, bonding the chest, going all the way down and all the way up and that chest expansion, pulling back head had [inaudible] and you can do it this way as well. Slightly different quality head, head and you can also pull back with the elbows, head, head [inaudible] and with the palms down, opening the chest head, head. So lots of variations here and going to the back of the mat, articulating down towards the pad, walking out it's nice plank position, push ups and walking back, making sure the hips are nice and straight, rolling up to an upright position. I'm stout. And just to finish holding onto the Poles, allowing the spine to get really nice and long, opening up between the shoulders, facility, the shoulders come up, just feeling like a ragdoll. So you get this lovely traction that gravity can give to you and then pulling the shoulders down so you engage them, engage your lats and lifting your knees up to work deeper into the powerhouse. And then standing quite close to the bar and holding onto the upper or the top here. Stretching out your side body, bending your inner knee for an extra stretch.

Same thing on the other side. Stand in close, lifting up the side body, stretching out, bending the inner knee for extra traction, coming up and inside, standing and either parallel or Pilati stance. Nice broad shoulders coming forward, opening up the chest, broadening across the collarbones. Really feeling that open upper body while the lower spine is long and extended. And there you go. This was just a nice little combination of material.

There's anything you want to else you would like to see on the tower, let me know. Enjoy it.